


exhausti amore

by nervoussurfer



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alien Biology, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Succubi & Incubi, Fantastic Racism, I just need to figure out where i wanna go with this, Multi, OC for villain purposes, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Ships will be added, Technically I call them Concubi but, What Is With Me and Bears
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-05-06 18:53:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5427158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nervoussurfer/pseuds/nervoussurfer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In this world live demons alongside humans, those who feed on energy and emotion through contact. And what better place for those who consume affection, than in the City of Love?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. dicere salve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Concept art: http://postimg.org/image/idu4drxcb/

In this world, demons live on the surface of Earth, rather than the pits of hell.

There was an event in history which caused the demons to migrate to the surface. There are still those that live in hell, but demons are a common sight nowadays.

Demons are much like humans. They have similar base appearances, the differences are cosmetic. Most demons have tails, and commonly have pinker skin, though this is not absolute.

The main difference between humans and demons is their diets. They… Marinette?

Marinette!

The girl in question bolts awake, drool staining her sleeves. She’d fallen asleep in class again. With reason, of course. Being a teen hero, not to mention keeping a secret identity under wraps, was really exhausting.

“Désolé, Mlle Bustier.” Marinette yawned, stretching her shoulders.

“I’ll believe you’re sorry if you don’t do it again, jeune femme.” Ms. Bustier chided, waving her ruler at Marinette. She went back to her teacher’s syllabus. “Okay, class, read from page 120 to page 136.”

Marinette sighed wearily. She had read these 19 pages once a year almost every year of her life. But thanks to France’s Demon Awareness Week, the school was mandated to cover this topic over and over again.

See, Marinette knew all this already. And it wasn’t just because she’d read it. She knew demons in real life. There were even some in the class right now.

Her best friend, Alya, was one of them. Her tail was long, and split into little strings at the end, like a frayed rope. She had that alluring otherworldly thing about her, with sharp eyes and that pinker skin. Apparently her hair was natural.

Alya and her had been friends since 1st grade, the first time Marinette had read the 19 pages. Marinette was a shy, sickly child, and never really made many friends. Alya was the first demon and first friend she knew. They’d made a bond that would last a lifetime.

Another demon in class was Adrien Agreste, model and heartthrob. His tail split into a cute, perfect fork near the end. His skin was paler than most demons, without that flushed tinge. It made him desirable to both species. And especially to Marinette.

Marinette sighed wistfully, staring in the satanic model of her dreams’ direction. 

“Why don’t you just talk to him?!” Alya whispered, noticing her friend’s gaze. The teacher was distracted, and honestly didn’t mind if they talked during material they’d heard 20 times before. But Alya was polite. At times.

Marinette drew circles on the desk with a finger. “It’s not that simple, Alya. He’s cute, I’m awkward. He’s a concubus, I’m a human. It’d never work. I’m better admiring from afar.”

“Hé, hé! That’s some speciesism right there! What about me, huh? Do we not work?” Alya huffed angrily, whip-like tail lashing.

Marinette smiles, albeit nervously. “We’re different, Alya. We’re just friends. But I dunno if I could handle a romantic relationship… Quoi si il, he tricks me? And I’m just food to him? I don’t actually know that much about him, tu vois?”

"You won’t know if you don’t try. Assumptions make un cul out of you and me. But mostly vous.” Alya looked away, not eager to continue this argument. She thought Marinette was horribly wrong, but wouldn’t be able to prove her point. Not without yelling. Which wouldn’t help.

Marinette frowned and scanned the room. She really didn’t want to read. Her eyes landed on another demonic classmate of hers. Chloe Bourgeois.

Chloe and Adrien had apparently been friends since childhood. Having been in some sort of, private school/homeschooling demon co-op play date friend group, or, something. Marinette didn’t know details, just the general idea.

She had no idea how Adrien befriended that girl. She often questioned if Chloe was just a demon, or actually Satan. The end of her tail flattened into a diamond shape, which seemed like a pretty evil shape to Marinette.

She looked away before Chloe saw her. Didn’t want to give her any teasing ammunition.

The bell rang, and Miss Bustier looked up from her laptop. “Bien, class, that’s the lunch bell. I want a 2-page report on demon-human relations by Friday. Use any incident you want. Get creative! Rendez-vous demain!”

Shuffling, as the class got ready at different tempos. Most students headed home to eat lunch. Marinette grabbed her bag, and the textbooks she didn’t need right now, so she could drop them off at home.

She walked with Alya until their paths differed, then waved goodbye with a promise to see each other later.

As she walked alone, she was pensive. Did she mean what she said about Adrien? He was the boy of her dreams. Was she really gonna let a little barrier like species get in the way?

Of course, she was timid about it. She’d never had a boyfriend before. And for her first try to be a demon? And she didn’t know how her parents, both human, would react. She’d never asked them directly about their opinion on the matter.

It hardly even mattered anyway, she thought glumly as she pushed open the door to the bakery. She was too nervous, too shy to even have a casual conversation with Adrien. Never mind asking him out.

”…rapports d' fires, from multiple sources. The arsonist appears to be a man, early 30′s, wearing a very strange outfit…”

Wait, what? Marinette spun, looking at the TV that was always set to the news in the shop portion of her house.

The reporter went on, calmly reading from her report. “…Coccinelle et Chat Noir have not yet arrived on the scene, yet authorities for once hope they will arrive to help. This man is fast, pyromaniacal, and dangerous. If you see him, s'il vous plaît ne pas se livrer, cacher et contacter les autorités…”

Marinette dropped her things on the floor unceremoniously, and raced out of the bakery.


	2. pugnare ignis apud ursae

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this world live monsters. They hunt and prowl in the dark, preying on the weak and lonely. They have many ways to hurt, to make their words burrow in your mind. It doesn’t matter what species they are. Anyone can be a monster.
> 
> concept art of Fire Bear: http://postimg.org/image/4qo25k39n/ (forgot his horns tho... ops.)

Ladybug skittered across the Paris skyline, feet hardly touching anything solid as she swung through the air. She dodged a chimney, anxious to get to the source of smoke she saw in the distance.

It’s not long before her partner in justice raced alongside her, scampering on shingles practically on all fours. Which would be appropriate, with his cat motif.

She knew hardly nothing about Chat Noir, other than the fact he’s a concubus and he flirts like one too. His tail comes out of his disguise, a long, thin, black line. It doesn’t seem to have any features at the end, like Alya’s brush or Chloe’s diamond. It just stops. It reminded her of a very long thin cat tail, funnily.

She’s looked for demons with that type of tail before. It would be easy to get an ID on him if she could find that tail. Not that she cared who he is. She’s just curious.

“Lady! Bonsoir! Nice to see you out on a night like this!” he purred her way. She rolled her eyes. “Listen, we should try for the element of surpurrise! Let’s split up, and come at him from diffurent ways!”

She hated the puns, but it wasn’t a bad idea. She nodded, and took off away from him, still angled toward the smoke.

Nearing her target, she pressed her back to a slanted door, just barely peering over the edge into the square.

An adult man hopped around, a lady on the ground at his feet. He was wearing a costume that shimmered, patterned like lava. He had gloves that looked like paws, goggles, and a weird hat.

"Hoo-hoo-hahahaha! I’m the Fire Bear! Fire Bear! Scream at the sound of my name!” He whooped. “I make fire! Feu! Beaucoup chaud!!”  
Well. He sure did have a fiery personality. …If Chat Noir ever found out that he’d infected her with his terrible sense of humor, she’d quit heroism entirely.

"Fire Bear, is it?” called Chat Noir from the rooftop parallel. “I’m a cat, so I hate water, but if it’s used to douse you? Volontier.” He leapt from his perch, confrontationally. The woman took the opportunity to race off.

Ladybug slipped back down, waiting for an in and formulating plans. She wished her solution sight was just a power she HAD, not one that activated after she’d used her lucky charm.

She heard a yowl, and quickly moved to look back at the action. Chat Noir was balancing on a light pole, cradling his hand.

"Zut, do you have a fever!? Your temperature is too high, you should get to a hospital! Aïe!”

Oh. Good to know.

Ladybug took a centering breath, then swung out of her hiding place to join her partner. “Ah, what do we have here? A little fire bug?”

No, wait, she didn’t mean to say- “A cousin of yours?” Chat Noir quips with a cheshire grin.

"Feh! I don’t think so.”

Fire Bear roared, interrupting their banter. “I’m Fire Bear! I won’t stop until Paris is ash! I set fires! You can’t stop me, I’ll set you on fire! Chiche!” He waved his arms before raising one in their direction, loosing a ball of fire from the pad of his glove’s paw.

The heroes scattered, dodging the flames. The fireball spattered apart on the building behind them. Made of brick, it didn’t burn, but it left a mark of black char.

This was not an enemy to be played with.

Ladybug whipped out her charm, spinning it so fast it made the air sing. Chat Noir mirrored her moves with his sticks, flicking them out and whirling them like batons.

As one, with a look, they charged Fire Bear.

Ladybug launched her charm, wrapping it around his upper arms. The man thrashed and roared with the sudden immobility. The wire turned red as he tried to heat it up, but to no avail. He was difficult to hold, so large and violent, but she only needed him for a few seconds.

Chat Noir came from the front, wielding his sticks. He went in for a swipe, but Fire Bear caught it. Oh, oops. She hadn’t captured his lower arms. Chat Noir swung his second stick, and the arsonist caught that one too. Her partner tried to jerk them from his big bear grip, but Fire Bear heated the metal.

Chat Noir yelped and jumped back, abandoning his weapons. The strain of holding back this mountainous man overtook Ladybug, and she fell back, charm unraveling.

Fire Bear roared, again, and gripped the sticks tight. He threw to the ground a superheated, dented mess of steel. Ladybug gaped. Point made twofold - don’t touch him.

He wasn’t having any of that, though, as he barreled towards Chat Noir with glowing paws. “C'mere! I’m gonna burn ya! I’m gonna getcha!” The cat was obviously agile enough to dodge, but yikes.

While Fire Bear is occupied chasing the cat, Ladybug takes the opportunity. “Lucky Charm!” Throwing her charm in the air, it came down with a rectangular box.

What? She poked open the box on the side, where serration designated a half-circle hatch. Was that baking soda? What could she do with-

Baking soda. The lightpole. Her charm. The hat. Got it.

“Raaah! C'mon, let me catch ya! I made a deal! Merde!” Steam rose off of the hypnotized man. Chat Noir just barely scampered past his hulking grasp, scarily. Ladybug got his attention with a wave.

Ladybug pointed to Fire Bear, then the lightpole. Her partner seemed to understand. Possibly. He might have been busy dodging the molten remains of his sticks, which Fire Bear had picked back up.

Chat Noir raced up the light pole, and stuck his tongue out at Fire Bear. Yeah, he got it. Fire Bear stomped up to the light pole, making grabbing motions upwards.

Ladybug flung her charm far, wrapping around both Fire Bear and the lightpole. Placing a foot on the lightpole, she leaned back, tugging the ursine firestarter snug, restraining him. In response, he combusted into flame. She tossed the baking soda up to Chat Noir. “Pour it on him!”

The cat did as she asked and dumped it all over. Ladybug reached up and plucked the hat from Fire Bear’s head, then crushed it underfoot. The akuma inside fluttered out to escape destruction.

She retracted her charm, letting them man formerly known as Fire Bear slump against the light pole. "Time to cure the evil!” Ladybug cried happily, always glad to use her power. Whipping her charm towards the black akuma, she caught it. The charm closed until she could release the now cured white butterfly.

"Au revoir, nice butterfly.” She wiggled her fingers in goodbye, then fist-bumped Chat Noir.

"Nice work, ma dame!” His tail was flicking, assumedly a sign of excitement. A groan arose from the formerly akumatized man, who held his head. 

Without his hat, his adult demonic horns showed. Ah. Akumatized demons did tend to be a bit more belligerent and wild, in her experience. The man’s tail, unrestrained by spandex, curled and flopped around, almost disorientedly.

"Should… what should we do with him? Do you think he needs..?” Marinette frowned, a weird pang of sympathy.

Bleep bleep! Her Miraculous.

"Mince! Never mind! I’ve gotta run, chaton!” She tossed her charm in the air quickly, activating the mending wave, then swung into the Paris skyline. She looked back over her shoulder, just to see Chat Noir waving feebly. She hoped he’d help the poor man.

She got home in record time, swinging onto her porch with practiced and gifted grace. She took a second to breathe, during which she changed back to Marinette. Not a moment too soon.

She entered her room, and shook out all her jitters, before exiting to be with her family again.

Her mom was cooking, and her dad was setting the table. Oh, she hadn’t realized it was that late.

“Oh, Mari!” Her mom started. “You were home this whole time? I thought perhaps you were at Alya’s. Joh-eun seulpeum, I was about to call her house!”

Marinette faked a yawn. “Desole, eomma. School tired me out, so I took a nap. What are you making? It smells delicious.” She kissed her mom’s cheek and went to wash her hands.

"Haha, thank you, yeon-in. I’m making kimchi-mussel bouillabaisse, your appa’s favorite.”

Marinette smiled, and went to help her dad set the table. Heroism was fun, but nothing could beat being with her family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I've decided that I'm updating this on Saturdays!  
> Except I'm IMMEDIATELY breaking that promise BC I won't even be here next Saturday SOOOOOO  
> Merry Christmas!


	3. quid nota, quod mendax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this world crawls uncertainty. They can hide their features and smile without teeth, pull you into their snare. But that’s not what you truly need fear. The ones you have to watch closest are the ones you trust most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't get this out on Saturday I tried real hard but hey! Its a really long chapter so!
> 
> Of course this is gonna mess up the rest of my schedule too. Let's just say I'm gonna post one chapter a week At Some Point? :(

Marinette woke up the next morning refreshed and content. She even managed to do her morning stretches, which could be more accurately called her once-a-week-maybe stretches. She keeps herself in shape, but she's always been a late riser.

Her parents are setting up shop already, the bakery opens quite early, so she gave them both quick cheek kisses on her way out. Marinette inhaled deeply of the humid yet crisp morning air, relaxed.

She'll be early to school, she absently thought as she took a more leisurely pace. Not a problem, just not of the norm. Maybe it'll be nice to be early. She can meet Adrien at the door and...

Do nothing.

Which is fine. She doesn't need to do anything. Just to see him is enough. It's enough.

But of course, if she's early, she'll have to suffer through everyone else showing up. Adrien always arrives rather late, because Nino arrives very late. They always walk together and probably get distracted joking around.

So consumed was she in her game plan for the day, that she almost tripped over the steps of the school. Her shoe scuffed on the pristine white steps, still doing more damage to her than them.

She frowned downward, and just sat, attempting to rub the scuff from her shoe - and waste time.

Being early was possibly not as strategically clever as expected. It was tranquil, in a way, for sure. Five minutes seemed like 30. She fixed her shoe, adjusted her outfit, doodled down some ideas, adjusted her outfit again, exchanged small talk with Tikki until the kwami went back to sleep inside her pocket. Waited more.

Finally, someone approached. She stood when she saw them, despite them still being two blocks away.

It was Max and Kim. Marinette hadn't known they walked to school together. Or were really anything more than fairweather friends. But they seemed to be quite chummy, having a conversation Marinette couldn't hear yet.

They eventually passed her by with an absent wave each, still caught up in each other. She can't even get a word of greeting out.

It doesn't bother her. She has her own friend group. She can't win them all.

Marinette waited for a while longer. Time crept on, people came and greeted her to various degrees. When Alya showed up, Marinette decided to go in already, rather than wait for Adrien. The chill had gotten to her.

The second day of Demon Awareness Week was as unmemorable and repetitive as the first. Ms. Bustier started off by telling them what part of the textbook they were in - should anyone wish to doze off during this unnecessary lesson - and launched into her lecture.

"An interesting fact about concubi is their maturity markers. Once a demon reaches a certain age, they begin to develop horns right around their hairline. The youngest one can grow these is 16 human years, though many don't until their early 20′s. The size also varies from demon to demon. Scientists theorize...”

Snore. Marinette's checked out. She'd zone out right then if Alya didn't slip her a note.

'Lunch together?’ it read.

Strange request. Skeptically, Marinette wrote back, ‘is everything okay?’

'Oui I'm fine I just wanna lunch with you that cool?’

Marinette drew a smiley face in closing response, and proceeded to get lost in her head for the rest of the lecture.

She didn't even notice that the lunch bell had rung until Alya tugged on her sleeve. They headed to Marinette's house in relative silence, which didn't quiet Marinette's suspicions that Alya had something serious in store.

They passed her parents in the shop, dealing with a pleasingly busy store. Marinette took a bunch of angel wings and a couple religieuses, leftover from the day before, and took the bounty up to the balcony table.

Alya snatched an angel wing as soon as she set the plate down, humming in delight. “These are always so good! I love your mom's baking, miam!” Her tail flicked like a happy cat's.

Marinette sat and stared at Alya until she noticed, then gave her a look that involved her eyebrows going up and her lips drawing thin. Alya knew what it meant, and sighed, but grinned.

"Oookay, maybe there's something I want to talk about. It's just, you're the only one that listens to me about this stuff, and I really need to get it out. It's about Ladybug's latest battle!” Alya too took a seat, leaning in to the table so far she could grab Marinette's cheeks if she wanted.

"So, I'm assuming you haven't read my blog yet today, mostly so I can have an excuse to recap it all.

“Coccinelle, hier nuit, fought a man who'd been akumatized to commit arson. Okay, basic, you got that. But the man was demonic! ‘What's the deal, Alya?’ You ask. ‘Ladybug's fought demons before!’ But get this. The story didn't have much meat, so I dug around a little bit about the guy.”

Alya tapped her phone, pulling up a photo of the man.

"Monsieur Mathieu Bonfils. A kind man, could talk about wine. He worked at that bookstore, Violette & Co? The type of person to never hurt a fly. But the day prior to his akumatization, something happened in his neighborhood. I don't know the specifics yet, I still need to conduct interviews. Something about a stove fire and the neighborhood watch.

"But, why is this important? Because of what happened after Mr. Bonfils was cured. I got there, on the scene, just in time to see the police arresting him.”

Marinette's mouth dropped open as Alya pulled something else up on her phone. She showed it, a video she had taken of the arrest. 

Fire Bear - now Mr. Bonfils - looked very dazed as 2 officers hauled him to his feet and cuffed him. His tail waved around, as if he was trying to find something solid to touch with it, like a blind person's cane. The officers jumped back from it, and hauled him faster to the police cruiser. The video stopped when they passed the view of the camera.

"What?” Marinette squeaked, voice feeling out of use. “How could they do that? We- they- she cured him!”

Alya shrugged and shook her head. “They got him on some charge, I don't remember what it was called, but it was the same principle as ‘being under the influence'. There's no law against arresting someone that Ladybug's cured. He still set fires, even if Ladybug fixed it.”

She sighed and leaned back in her chair, slit pupils rounding out now that she'd told her story. “I guess that's why I admire Ladybug so much. She upholds real justice, unlike those pigs in blue. I need to look up other akumatized demons she's fought. In case they got arrested too.”

Alya looked back down at her phone, and noticed the time. “Merde! Desole, I talked too much, we gotta go!” She panicked and practically pulled Marinette, still quite in shock, out of her seat.

Marinette was zoned out completely until the end of day bell rang. Too much to think about. How could they arrest him? Have the police been arresting all the victims? Why had no one mentioned? Why wasn't this in the paper, on the news, that Mr. Bonfils had been wrongfully put in jail? It didn't make sense. It wasn't right.

Walking home, her brain was still in the fog of these thoughts, but she's trying to put it behind her. It was one incident, and time moves on. Once they see he's no danger, he'll be let out. It's not a big deal.

Pushing open the bakery door, the bell chimed above her.

Exhausted from sheer mental strain and stress, Marinette made a beeline for her room, dropping her bag in a heap on the floor and plopping face first onto her bed. She had a little while before dinner, best to try and clear her mind now.

She ended up taking a dreamless nap. Her mom had to come in and wake her to eat.

Worries behind her, she enjoyed the wonderful aroma. They often had pasta for dinner, since they always had the dough to make some. But her eomma always made it interesting, like it wasn't what they had every night. They were just having dak-kalguksu tonight, simple yet still a treat.

She sat down at the table, eager to dig in. Remembering for a second that she didn't eat much at lunch during Alya's tirade, she was rather hungry.

Marinette dug in to the noodles, blowing on them only long enough to not cause serious damage to her mouth. It takes her a second to realize her parents aren't talking, when normally the dinner table is full of babble. They're probably just busy eating too, she thinks, not even looking up from her bowl.

Her father clears his throat. “Marinette...”

Ohhhh putain, she knows what that tone means. She looked up from her bowl, mouth still full of chicken.

Her father was not the most eloquent or smooth in the best of times. He was awkwardly shifting in his seat to better face her, wiggling his mustache as he pondered how to say the thing he wanted to say.

"So, Marinette. You are now 14. A young woman, with thoughts about things. And your mother, and I, we are worried that you might think the wrong things. So we, she and I, would like to talk about. Some of those things.”

Oh god no. Marinette doesn't even respond, just blanched and waited for him to continue.

He doesn't continue right away, gesticulating vaguely and trying to think of a way to make his words make sense. His wife sighed understandingly from across the table. “Yeon-in, we know about Adrien.”

Marinette had to spit her food back into her bowl to keep from choking on it. “Eomma, appa, I'm not-!”

Her mother waved her hand. “You're not dating him. It's just a crush, right? That's okay, that's fine. He's very pretty. But we need you to be safe. You're very young, and don't know how to navigate these things yet.”

Her father sighed and leaned back. “It was fine when you were only FRIENDS with a demon, but this? Aïe, honestly, honey, we should've done this sooner.”

What? What was this conversation even about? Marinette, dumbfounded and mortified, just sat back and let them talk at her.

"Demons and humans are very different. They don't have the right emotions. We don't know Adrien very well, so what if he finds out you like him, and decides to use you like some, some morral? A-a-a feedbag?!”

"It's two different species, Marinette. There's nothing to relate to. They don't have any sort of moral compass. They come from the center of the earth, Marinette. Could anyone from there know anything about up here?”

"He could hurt you if he wanted. Really bad. Did you know that demons are naturally stronger than humans? That's why they're better at labor jobs. And you'll have a harder time defending yourself, since they don't feel pain as bad. Their skin is redder because they have more blood, you know.”

"We just want you to be safe. And being safe means not bringing home some dirtbug. We love you.”

Dazedly, Marinette nodded. On one level, she recognized that some things they'd said weren't true. But, bombarded with such a large argument, she couldn't, well, argue. It made sense, anyhow. Sort of. To use ‘dirtbug’ at the end seemed a bit strong, but what did she know?

They went back to eating. Marinette felt as if she should have argued, but the time had passed. She never was good at debate, anyhow, and how could she stand up to her dear eomma and appa?

Today had been quite eventful, she could at least say that.

After washing the dishes, she kissed her parents goodnight. It wasn't her bedtime quite yet, but even with her nap earlier, she still felt utterly exhausted. She felt as if she'd been bearing the weight of an elephant on her shoulders all day, and there hadn't even been a villain.

Marinette went to bed that night upset and slightly nauseous. She stared at her ceiling for an immeasurable amount of time, before her brain forced a shutdown that interrupted her trainwreck thoughts.


	4. colores exhibere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this world lies complacency. Why do good if no one ever sees it? Why fight evil if no one commends you? It’s easier to just let the status quo remain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY HIATUS BATMAN yeah remember what I said in previous notes about updating on Saturdays? I'm pretty sure we've completely left that behind at this point. Expect the unexpected.  
> if you're wondering what held me up for almost 4 damn months: http://archiveofourown.org/works/5817508

Life continued, no matter how tired Marinette was. Time marched on without sign of fatigue, pulling her in its currents.

Last night had been... confusing, to say the least, but she'd reconciled it. They only meant well, and they were older and wiser than her. More experience. So she'd already accepted her parent's views as the truth. There was no way, in her mind, that they could be wrong.

Even if something small told her their information was skewed.

Marinette stared at the sidewalk as she walked, brain blinking in and out of awareness as she followed the same route she always did. She just couldn't pay attention, especially not to something so boring and routine, with all these mysteries floating around.

Why had the police arrested Mathieu Bonfils? Why had he acted so strangely after being cured? Why were her parents so aggressive about demons?

What was Chat Noir's true identity?

It felt like she had all the pieces of the puzzle already, if she could just wake up and fit them together everything would be solved. But she was still asleep so it was still nonsense, just out of reach.

She nearly tripped over the steps of the school, asleep as she was.

Marinette forced herself out of the fog as she sat in her regular place. Forget it. Forget all of it. Only consider what was happening right now. She'd arrived before Alya, so the only thing to do was people-watch.

Chloe was already chattering away with Sabrina. Marinette didn't care to pay attention to their conversation too closely, but it seemed to be a rare moment where Chloe wasn't snapping about something. Marinette didn't know how Sabrina could stand it, but if she didn't have any good emotions about Chloe, she wouldn't be her feeder.

Was feeder the correct term? Marinette didn't know, but she was going with it. Yes, Sabrina let Chloe eat her emotions. You'd think it would be a coerced position, but they seemed to genuinely enjoy each other. On occasion.

Sure, it seemed as if Sabrina was more of a lackey, meekly bowing to Chloe's whims. But spending time with someone, no matter how reluctant, makes you notice things. Their bond was true, and symbiotic. Though still strange, obviously. But Chloe could've had her pick of anyone, had 20 feeders under her retinue. Instead, she had stuck with her friend. Sickeningly sweet.

Nino and Adrien had a similar set-up, though a more obvious match. Not when they first met, mind you. No one could've guessed that the poor scholarship kid and the famous model would become this close, but they hit it off right away. Now they were closer than two peas in a pod. If it was so easy for Nino, why couldn't Marinette manage it?

In fact, looking around, it seemed everyone was paired off. Ivan sustained Mylene, Max and Kim had some strange arrangement with Alix, Rose and Juleka had Nathanaël as a surrogate.

It made Marinette feel a little guilty she wasn't like that for Alya.

Maybe people assumed she was, she didn't know. But Alya never asked, and she never offered. Maybe it was strange. But maybe it was lucky Marinette wasn't so close to Alya, what with her parent's views. Though, if Alya had ever asked, she would've said yes. Why didn't she ask?

Perhaps she didn't taste good.

What was she even thinking? Why was she jealous she didn't have more responsibility? She had enough on her plate, she didn't need her best friend badgering her. Huffily, she started unpacking her bag, books thudding on the desk as she put them down.

Behind her, Adrien and Nino were sharing some joke, laughing quietly together. Something about the sound pissed her off.

Alya came in, and Marinette didn't even register it until she sat down next to her. Marinette was just so weird and confused and frustrated right now that she didn't want to talk to Alya, she knew she'd just say something dumb. She saw Alya's tail flick out of the corner of her eye, saw Alya's head tilt in a particular way, and kept silent, not acknowledging her.

It wasn't until Alya leaned in that Marinette waved distractedly. Alya giggled and shrugged, shaking her head.

Just as soon as she finished setting up, the bell rang for the beginning of class. Ms. Bustier stood, and as everyone quieted down, she began the lesson.

"Bonjour, classe! Yesterday, we learned about physical differences between demons and humans, so let's continue on that same theme - metabolic differences! Please turn to page 142 in your book.

"Donc, we all know how humans eat. We generally make food of the resources nature gives us, such as plants which grow into fruits and vegetables, or animals which give us milk or meat. And it goes through our digestive system, which is too complex to go into, but the food gives us nutrients by going through our bodies.

"But demons consume in quite a different way.

"Demon consumption is more, ah, spiritual." Marinette hid a smile, as she could tell Ms. Bustier was trying her best to make this non-sexual.

"They feed on the emotions of those around them. During some process, the emotion is turned into pure energy, and so the specific emotion, be it fear or happiness or anger, has only a small effect on the demon's mood.

"This process also has little effect on humans, in small amounts. If a demon goes too far, they can seriously drain a human. Luckily, this is difficult to do, as a demon can only hold so much energy at one time. Cependant, il est toujours préférable d'être prudent..."

Ms. Bustier's lecture faded out of Marinette's awareness as she side-eyed Alya. Really? Was that true? Of course she'd heard this over and over again, for years, but it was only now sinking in. Sure, it was 'difficult to do', but that didn't mean impossible.

Maybe Marinette was grateful Alya had never asked.

Maybe that was why Msr. Bonfils was arrested. Though he was cured, what if something happened in the interim, after Chat Noir had left and Alya had arrived? It was possible. Marinette wasn't prepared to think that the police would arrest someone for nothing.

She didn't know Msr. Bonfils personally, so she had no idea if he was that type of guy. But taking a step back, demons were literally monsters. They came from the inside of the Earth, and preyed on humans for sustainance.

It wouldn't surprise her one bit.

She rested her cheek in her hand, elbow holding her up on the desk, and gazed out the classroom window. Suddenly feeling very unsafe.

The day outside was all sunshine and blue skies. Summer would be here soon. Marinette could see the breeze ruffling the trees, like the wind was playfully dancing. She could see a bird perched on a branch, calling to another bird somewhere, but she couldn't hear it.

A butterfly lazily fluttered by the window. With full black wings, it seemed mismatched with the pretty day.

No, wait, it looked like it had a few purple markings, though Marinette could hardly tell from this distance.

No, wait.

Oh, no.


End file.
